I worked at a financial data firm for more than a decade, and decided to move to a different company at the wrong time. I held that job for a year before I got laid off in February 2009. I decided to pursue my dream of being an actor and stand-up comedian. I was cast in featured background roles for several movies filmed around the Boston area.

But I was looking for some steady employment that could be a springboard to something else. I saw ads for census jobs and talked to some friends who had been hired earlier. I've always been involved in my community--coaching little league, football--so I felt like a census job could also be a good fit for me.

I applied last December, and started as a recruiting assistant in January, and now I'm a field operations supervisor, which means I oversee and work with eight crew leaders who have 150-200 enumerators working under them.